And here it is so far:


Thinking about another coat when it dries.

Just one question. When I install this is it ok for me to spray Throttle Body Cleaner into the ports of the lower intake manifold without taking it off or will that cause a startup problem? Thing is I think the leak I am having is sucking a small bit of coolant into the intake and I just want to be sure there is no more coolant in the ports if that is the case.

Looks great, just umm.. should any of those holes be masked off? Sorry, I don't have an intake like that. Also, looks a little thick by the puddle on the cardboard.. or is that just the lighting? Too many coats is when you waste a whole can of spray paint on an object smaller than the actual can. 2-3 coats is usually recommended.


-justin

Those puddles are from this heater inlet pipe that I was painting and yes all the holes except for the screw holes are masked and covered. I was wondering about that wet sanding thing. On some parts of the paint its like gritty as if dirty is in it but it seems that its just the way that that area was sprayed so would light wet sanding fix this and make it ALL smooth? I should have fully masked off the bottom though because there are a few specks in the intake area. Do you think some rubbing alcohol would remove this?

Some paint thinner on the areas you don't want it on will get it all right off [rubbing alcohol won't work, unless the paint is still wet]. The dirt you mention.. I have never heard of anything like that.. however the wetsanding will get rid of most any imperfections [I say most, because this sounds like the first time you will be doing this.. and it takes a lot of practice to get good]. Any sort of rough spots.. or imperfections in the painting process should be removed.. however the ones that are deeper, may not be [this is where sanding it all down, and repainting will fix, or should fix]. Try getting some 1500 grit wet sand paper at Lowes or Home Depot [I believe they have it], get a small cup of water, soak the paper in it for 5-10 minutes before begining to sand. Then use that cup to dip your and in, and make the area you want to sand fairly wet, and keep putting on drops when are sanding. You must know when to stop, otherwise you will go right through the paint, and that wouldn't be good.


-justin

I am quite happy with the results right now but I guess I did put a bit too much as I see some dry runs on a few small areas. No biggie though as I will be doing some light wet sanding and another very light coat to get the shine back. I practiced the wetsanding on a coke can that I painted and it seems very easy to do it right. Here is another shot of it:

Looks awesome. If you have those runs, you went with too thick of a coat. My suggestion is to sand it all down again and repaint. It takes some practice [I'll admit, after many hours of total painting, I will still get the occaisonal run]. Plus, when you sand it down [leaving still some of the red, of course] usually gives a deeper colour, and brings out more of the red, since it'* technically painting red on red, versus red on black. You may as well do it right, because you will always notice that run everytime you pop the hood. Trust me, I have a small run on my mouse, and everytime I go to use it, I know it'* there, and it bugs the hell out of me! When you do the first coat, just do a few passes 8-10" away from the object. This will NOT cover the whole thing in paint. Then go back in 30-60 minutes, and do another coat just like that, but try to cover it all [this isn't your final coat, so do not worry about making it flawless, yet]. Then let that sit for 30-60 minutes, and spray on a nice liberal coat [but still be careful not to have any runs!]. Give that coat overnight to dry. Look at it in the morning.. chances are you will want to throw on one more light coat, and let it sit for the day. Then go after the wetsanding. Using these instructions, you will have any flawless component. I have done this to my remote, and after 4 months of abuse, and there is still not a single scatch on it, and it'* still flawless. I apologize for not posting this earlier, I didn't know the extent of your painting experience.


-justin

As long as it stays that glossy it will be tight! Keep us updated!

Yeah unfortuneately its orange though, well Chevy Orange-Red to be exact.

I figured I would post this, just in case anyone else was going to do any painting.

I have a Logitech MX700 mouse. It was bland, and ugh.. so I decided to paint it several months back. I painted it the "Chevy orange" you talk about. It'* a red, but its more orangey, and the base was kept black. Well, that paint started to become crap [Rust-Oleum {sp?} paint]. I kept it as-is, because I wanted to find that perfect colour I was going to paint some accent colours in my car with. Well, I found a colour I liked. Painted the mouse, and it turned hazy, and flat. So I thought WTF?? and sanded it down, and repainted. Still, same results. I remember rummaging through my paint bin, and I saw Clear Coat, but thought, eh, I am not going to need that. After painting, I thought, what the hell, may as well try it. I did, and guess what? It shines like crazy, and has METAL FLAKES!! Holy crap is that sexy. It is a burgandy type red, with a deep satin black. I have never had this happen, but this was the first time I used Dupli-Colour automotive paint. This is what needs to be done to get the automotive paint looking good. I'd post some pics, but none of them show the beauty of the mouse.. and none have caught the metal flakes, or the reflection I have. So I will just leave it up to the imagination what it looks like .


-justin